Permit fees for polluters may rise
Environment Department says request would generate almost $36M, up from $8.8M
The state Environment Department has filed a petition with a state regulatory board to raise permitting fees on industries that emit air pollution.
The agency seeks to raise the fees to $81 per ton of pollutants from the current $38.47, which would be the first significant change to air quality permit fees in almost 20 years.
The proposed fee increases would generate almost $36 million for the state’s Air Quality Bureau, compared with the current $8.8 million, enabling the agency to beef up staffing for enforcement, officials say.
“Air permit fees are insufficient to hire and retain staff given New Mexico’s growing economy,” Environment Secretary James Kenney said in a statement. “This proposal will allow us to decrease permit timeframes, increase our compliance efforts and overall improve air quality.”
The proposal was submitted to the state Environmental Improvement Board. The fee adjustments would improve permitting timelines, technical assistance and enforcement efforts, state officials say.
Small businesses would continue to receive exemptions, which allow reduced fees based on total emissions and the average number of employees.
New Mexico’s economy is the 13th fastest growing in the nation, with agriculture, oil and gas, construction and mining among its top sectors, according to federal data. These industries tend to emit air pollutants.
With such growth, the agency has experienced an increase in the number and complexity of permit applications, officials say. At the same time, the work required to ensure applicants comply with state and federal air quality standards has expanded significantly in the past 20 years.
For example, the number of permitted oil and gas industry facilities has grown from 34 permits in 2012 to 794 in 2023, the agency said in a news release.
On average, the state received 84 new permit applications a year for oil and gas development during that period, while permit fees remained about the same and staffing levels stayed relatively flat, the agency said.
Aside from higher pollutant fees, users would see their filing fees for newly built facilities increase from $500 to $2,000.
Permit fees would be tied to the consumer price index going forward. And the Air Quality Bureau would use some of the additional funding to add electronic billing and payment methods to augment its ePermitting Portal.
“There is a lot of excitement about new business coming to New Mexico,” Michelle Miano, director of the Environmental Protection Division, said in a statement. “These fee structure updates provide the resources we need to serve applicants effectively.”